Deeper (Dungeon Quest)

The water has receded, and the cycle begins anew. Our little ones performed rather admirably for their size against a natural predator of theirs, but how will they handle a larger threat?
[X] We worry about them
[X] They will grow stronger
[X] Write-in





Snippy wanders as he ponders. The Wonderful Sleeping Shelterer again did not aid them in battle, this time against a fearsome foe… is it not able to? Perhaps it is not just that the Marvellous Sleeping Shelterer that protects us, but so too that we protect the Beautiful Sleeping Shelterer?

The cool of the watery place is refreshing to his thought, and Snippy notices a new passage - where does it lead to? Snippy must explore the full Magnificence of the Sleeping Shelterer. Climbing out of the water, he sees a pale barrier ahead of him, softly glowing. When he gently touches it, he feels no resistance, and he knows the Benevolent Sleeping Shelterer would surely warn him if it was dangerous, so he presses through.

Inside the room, Snippy is whelmed in a feeling of great peace and safety. He knows no harm could ever come to him, or any other in this room! It is wonderful but confusing… is it truly the room that makes this feeling? Snippy passes the pale barrier again. The feeling leaves. It was definitely the room. Back in, to ex-!?!

Snippy bounces off the pale barrier.

Confused, Snippy scratches his eyes*. Why can't he pass the barrier? He could pass it before? Snippy has many questions, and not many answers. Gently, he rests his claw against the barrier again. It's solid. Unsure what to do, Snippy waits, thinking. A few minutes or so pass, maybe more. Minutes thinking, and scratching his eyes in confusion. Until suddenly, Snippy feels the barrier relax, and passes through it again.

How Strange!

Snippy puts thoughts of the barrier away for later. Too much thinking can hurt a crab's brain.

Whelmed again by the feelings of peace and safety, Snippy wanders a few moments before realising something important: it is light in this room, as it is under the Brilliant Sky Pearl! The source of the light is a pearl, suspended artfully between a Stalagmite and a Stalactite. A connection almost forms in his head, but he carefully sets it aside for later, to look after himself.

He needs a better view of this beautiful pearl.

Ah! The large white shell his siblings found is set down before it. Snippy knows a good vantage point when he sees one!

Snippy clambers atop the shell. It's very stable. He looks at the pearl, and-!!!

???

The shell shakes underneath him, then tips to the side. Snippy holds on!

"HEY!"

The shell is talking to Snippy?

"Yeah, you! Get off my shell!"

Looking down, Snippy sees there is a crab in the shell…what? Don't all crabs have their own shells? Snippy is polite enough to let go and drop back to the ground before asking.

"Um no… Have you never seen a Hermit Crab before?

Snippy has not.

"Oh. Well, don't do that again, ok? This is my shell, and it's very precious to me." She looks around for a moment. "Uh, where am I?"

Snippy is more than happy to tell…Snippy does not know her name?

"Okay Snippy, I'm Skali, now please continue."

Yes! Snippy tells Skali all about the Amazing, Superb, Magnificent, Benevolent Sleeping Shelterer! Who has looked after Snippy for as long as he remembers! Snippy talks about the Splendid Sleeping Shelterer at quite some length. He is excited to do so.

"Ok, ok, ok, little guy, you really have made this place sound pretty awesome." She strokes her magnificent beard. "I might even stick around a while."

They sit together a while, admiring the pearl

Acquired Named Character - Skali (Crab Prophet)
Racial Traits (Hermit Crab - weight class 2)

• Shell Hermit - This creature can don torso and head armour (technically all Delvers have this ability). Additionally, you have (your weight class -1) (max 2) mundane armour on every limb. This stacks with other armour to a mundane maximum bonus of 5
• Aquatic Adaptations you are adapted to underwater environment of your choice and have all the necessary traits to thrive in that environment
• Large – your weight class increases by 1 (to 2)
• Any 1

Starting Skills (Bonuses: Magical +2, Leader: +1)

• Prophet's Prongs (Spell, Activated) - you loose a fork-like projection of force towards a target that is far (or closer) to you: damage scales off your casting implement (Magical)
• Paladin's Protection – you do not age (though you can choose to let your appearance age, and as an action return to youthful looks), cannot become poisoned or diseased, and take 1 less damage from all sources. Additionally you may grow a magnificent beard and/or hair, even if you otherwise couldn't (Magical, Leader)

Background(s)

• Wandering Hermit (+2)

Response to fear: Fight
Starting Equipment: Large White Conical Shell (+3 armour to head and torso locations) - this shell is slightly magical, granting an additional +1 to armour (base 2, +1 = 3) in addition to never dulling, aging, or otherwise deteriorating. It doesn't seem to do anything else, but Skali is able to completely retract into it.

*Turns out crabs don't blink. They have chitinous eye surfaces that they scratch to keep clean

There aren't many delvers this time… and they may only be Bronze 1

---

"Gea, wait up!" Lucas can't actually see his friend's dark purple locks anymore but he carefully makes his way down the small pathway on the cliffside as quickly as he dares.

"Come on, slowpoke!" Gea's teasing voice is accompanied by her smirking face appearing off the side of the path a few metres ahead.

"Wh-" Lucas hurries to the seemingly disembodied head of his friend. "Are you hanging off the cliffside again?! Your mum's gonna be livid!"

"What she doesn't know," Gea sing-songs, disappearing behind the cliffside again, "won't hurt her!"

It takes Lucas no more than a dozen seconds to make his way down the pathway, almost slipping on some of the algae-covered rocks at the bottom. Taking a moment to get his bearings, he spots Gea making her way through a rocky valley embedded in the cliffside, jumping from rock to rock.

"Did you find it?" Lucas is brimming with anticipation. The local tavern's information board had said there was a brand new dungeon around, and Gea had all but dragged him off for this excursion. Technically speaking, neither of them were real Delvers, but Gea is a pearl diver, and had said it had an underwater room that might get them enough pocket money to last the rest of the year.

"Yep, yep! It's right through here!"

The cave entrance is… plainer, than Lucas had expected. It's not terribly intimidating, entirely without signage or doors. In fact, it just looks like any other cliff cave.

"Are you sure? This doesn't seem…" Lucas' sentence trails off as he nears the cave. Oh, yeah, that's definitely a Dungeon.

"Woah. That feels weird, like there's a massive thing just watching you."

"It's so cool, isn't it?" Gea is practically glowing, flashing a toothy smile with her hands on her hips.

Lucas swallows nervously, suddenly remembering that the dungeon might be dangerous, but before he can so much as open his mouth to give words to his hesitation, Gea rushes off into the cave.

Lucas sighs "Well, nothing for it then."

The first thing Gea sees in the cave is a significant number of crabs. It's not terribly surprising given what was on the information board, but the crabs are still a little larger than she expected, definitely bigger than the ones she saw when pearl diving. They mostly seem to be milling about, though some at the back of the room are carrying some driftwood around.

"Just crabs, Lucas! Nothing new. See, it's not dangerous at all!"

"Uh, I'm pretty sure crabs are still pretty dangerous if you're not careful."

"That must be the corridor to the underwater room. Hope you're ready!" Gea says, before whispering "Nulumi's Nexus!"

A glowing orb manifests, filling the darkened corridor with moonlight. It hovers over her shoulder momentarily, before Gea flicks her hand and the orb floats over to Lucas's head, hovering just above it.

"You don't even know if there's anything on the other side yet!"

"I'll race you anyway, to the wall and back!" She sticks out her tongue and hops behind the bend, immediately setting off into a sprint.

"You can't even breathe underwater!" Even as he protests, the sound of Lucas sprinting on the sandy ground makes her grin wildly. Gea dives headlong into the small tunnel of water with a large breath, and comes face to face with an unamused, black-blue crustacean. The light above Lucas's head moves a little closer as he catches up.

"Oh hey, Lobsters!" Lucas, unimpeded by the water, speaks her thoughts aloud.

Is that what they're called? (Note: this will have no mechanical effects)
[X] No, no, those are Crab Mermaids. Don't be ridiculous.
[X] Now that we hear it, that does sound right. Lobster. Yeah. Feels good.

Gea sets off at speed, swimming past the clawed crustacean and heading towards the far end. Lucas follows after, and is soon neck-and-neck with her. As they hit the far wall, Lucas motions to the nearest passage, indicating a space above the water.

Gea goes first, coming up above the surface and taking a deep breath and as she is still waist deep in the pool, Lucas saunters forward unbothered, making his way up the ledge with an easy step, inspecting the walls and floor with the help of Gea's orb-light.

"Looks like a dead end, Gea."

"Aw, bad luck."

They dive back into the water, and are once more greeted by crustaceans. Gea waves at one, and it makes an odd motion with its claw, as if snipping upwards. Lucas twirls around, mid-swim and exclaims, "they've got explosive claws!"

Gea nods, wide-eyed; she too felt the shockwave from the snipping. More pressing however, are the bubbles of air that accidentally escaped her mouth. Again, her companion twirls in the water and finds the nearest passage, motioning quickly towards it.

As she breaches the surface, her hair clings to her head like seaweed and she coughs up a bit of salty water. "Please tell me this one isn't a dead end."

"I've got bad news."

"Oh, come on!"

"Better hold your breath again."

They go back down the passage, and enter the final tunnel, which is notably different as soon as they surface. A glowing white barrier stands just a few metres away from the entrance pool, way cooler than the bare walls they found before. Gea hops to her feet and immediately presses her hand to the barrier, finding that it slowly pushes into the white light.

"Hey, it's open!"

As they enter the new room, it immediately becomes obvious what it is.

"It's a shrine to Nulumi!" Gea throws her hands in the air in celebration. "Best Delve, ever!"

"Don't think this counts as a Delve, we're not really guild members," Lucas ruminates aloud.

"Fine, best cave exploration ever." Gea makes clear how much she cares about the exact definition of a Delve by blowing a raspberry and throwing her hands up.

The Shrine itself is a large room, with a pearlescent glowing orb suspended between a stalactite and a stalagmite, the hallmark of a shrine to Nulumi, the Goddess of the Moon.

"It's not everyday you find a shrine to the Sovereign of the Sunless Sky, you know. Kind of a big deal."

"Well, it's definitely pocket money from the guild, or at least your mum."

"Ha! I don't think so buddy, that means you'd have to tell her I was in a Dungeon." Gea acts shocked, but can't help the big grin on her face.

"I'm not sure how that's supposed to be my-"

Snip

"Uh. What's a crab doing in the shrine, Gea?"

Snip Snip Snip

"Hey, it's snipping at you, not me!" A grin flashes across her face "Clearly it's got something to say; maybe it'll even tell you why it's here!"

Lucas shoots her an exasperated look.

"Okay little buddy, my Plasegean is uh, more than a little rusty but, uh, what's on your mind little guy?"

Snippy explains again that he does not want to snip you, but you are being very rude - not even telling Snippy your name, and within the Wonderful Sleeping Shelterer no less!

"Uh. Right." Lucas shoots a pleading look at Gea.

"Well, go on. Introduce me to your friend, Lucas."

"Uhm. Crab, meet Gea, Gea, meet crab. I'm Lucas, and we have no idea what you're saying."

The silly creature doesn't say Snippy's name! How rude!

"I am Skali, and it's awfully rude of you to pretend you understand Snippy when you clearly don't."

"Oh, wait, I think I got that. Sorry, the white one here is Skali. I'm not sure what the rest of that is about though. Something to do with acting?"

"...Acting? Lucas, they're not putting on a theatre play."

Snippy does not understand these words

"Snippy, they're speaking Diokynian, of course you don't understand!

Snip Snip

"It sounds like they're struggling a bit with the language barrier too."

"...Lucas, how come you've never told me you can speak to crabs?"

"I can't speak to every crab. Not all of them even speak, and there's more crab languages than your grandma has wrinkles."

Snippy thinks this should be easy like it is for the Splendiferous Sleeping Shelterer.

"You know, when I've brushed up on my Plasegean I'll come back and speak to you, but now we gotta get home before my mum calls us in for dinner."

Saying goodbye to the pair of crabs, they make their way back into the pool. Another semicircle of interested crustaceans greet them on their way out of the tunnel. Gea gets a mischievous smirk on her face, and Lucas rolls his eyes gleefully as she waves at them

The resulting wave back from the crustaceans sends a staccato of explosive noise back to them. Gea mouths "So cool!", and Lucas laughs.

Hmm, they are leaving. It's strange - we have seen Delvers come and go, but they have all been quite…weak. Even the eels were merely a drop in the ocean. And recently these Delvers have been quite few in number… we wonder why?

---

Snippy has learned much, and has pondered what it means to be wise. Finally, he understands! It means:
[X] To lead the charge, take on all comers, and come out on top: (Learn Vanguard)

• Vanguard - You fight on the front lines with a commanding presence. When you or a unit you are commanding is engaged in melee, the closest hostiles, up to your leader modifier that are near (or closer), cannot take strike actions against any target except you. When Rallied, allies gain 1 vantage on attempts to intercept hostiles targeting you. When Routed, hostiles lose 1 vantage on interception rolls against you next turn. (Leader, Martial)

[X] Being an inspiration to others, and helping them realise their full potential (Learn Rally)

• Rally – you can use your action to extend the benefits of any leader skill (and any passive magical abilities, regardless of source) to a number of nearby creatures that see you as an ally ("allies") up to your leader skill modifier. (Leader)
  • Benefits last a number of rounds equal to your leader modifier
  • You can extend a number of benefits equal to half your leader modifier (min 1)
  • You can take the defend action as part of the rally action
  • You can communicate clearly with your allies as part of the rally action
  • You can lead a Horde, turning it into a Formation

[X] Protecting what is important, starting with yourself (Learn Paladin's Protection)

• Paladin's Protection (Spell - passive) – you do not age (though you can choose to let your appearance age, and as an action return to youthful looks), cannot become poisoned or diseased, and gain 1 point of magical armour (take 1 less damage from all sources). Additionally you may grow a magnificent beard and/or hair, even if you otherwise couldn't (Magical, Leader)

Notes: Learning an ability increases the modifier(s) associated with it, adding +1 to all checks of that/those type(s). Leading a Formation allows you to extend Rally benefits to the entire Formation if you couldn't already. Magical armour from spells stacks with other armour, and works against abilities that bypass mundane armour (eg. Pharyngeal Jaws).

We have 13 Depth. (At the end of each Delve, for each uncleared feature, score 1 Depth per Delver level for each Delver)

Recycle
[X] 4 Depth
[X] Coral? Isn't that alive? Well, we'll keep it alive. (may be useful in Crab Construction)
[X] Brown Algae Seeds? These will bloom one day, maybe even soon! (may be useful for Crabriculture)

[X] Expand sideways (1 Depth per tile) X tiles (write-in)
Clarification: you can make rooms with irregular shapes, and expand existing rooms

Crab Construction
[X] Driftwood Door? Is that a door? Do you need more time with that, little Crabs? (Does nothing this turn. Please wait warmly while crab carpentry is perfected)

Features (Must pick exactly 1):
[X] Creature Catfish (aquatic) (Cost 8 Depth)

• Max damage: 1
• Health: 3
• Replenishment: Standard
• Abilities (weight class 3):
  • Barbels: These creatures have whisker-like outgrowths which serve as a sensory organ that always detects creatures on Reach 0, Adjacent (removing any vantage loss from blindness/deafness).
  • Gluttonous Growth: when these creatures are expanded they may gain one weight class, to a maximum of weight class 6 (at which size it would deal 3 damage, have 6 health, and occupy 36 tiles with 1 creature - though it would still fit through corridors)
  • Remaining Ability slots: 2 (no terrestrial adaptations)

[X] Spiny Crab Mermaids (aquatic) (Cost 5 Depth)

• Max Damage: 1
• Health: 2
• Replenishment: Fast
• Abilities (Weight class 2):
  • Exoskeleton (must be weight class 3 or less) – You have an exoskeleton that provides your weight class in mundane armour (max 3) to your torso and head, and your weight class -1 (max 2) mundane armour to every limb. This stacks with other armour to a mundane maximum bonus of 5
  • Scary - Gain 1 vantage on intimidation based rolls, lose 1 vantage to persuasion based rolls
  • Remaining Ability slots: 3.5 (no terrestrial adaptations, scary is a half trait)

[X] Permanent Air Pocket (cost: 3 Depth): This room is permanently protected from flooding (cannot be applied to the starting room)
[X] Overgrown Toolbox (cost: 3 Depth) - A toolbox, covered in seaweed. It's completely rusted shut, and will need opposable thumbs to even try and operate the locking mechanism. Can't be opened by cave creatures, but it does look nice with hues of red and green. Increases attractiveness to Delvers.

Upgrade (Pick up to 1):
[X] Crab-Fu 2: Electric Boogaloo (cost: 10 Depth) - All Crabs living in the Crab-Fu room learn Spellstrike (electric) (room costs X extra Depth per tile to expand after applying this upgrade)

• Spellstrike – You can strike, throw, or loose as part of casting a spell. If you do, the spell is cast as part of that attack, with double the weapon's normal range (double reach for melee), the damage type of the spell if it has one, and +1 max damage. if you don't know any spells, you still gain +1 max damage and can choose the damage type. (Magical, Martial)

[X] Geothermal Spring (cost: 4 Depth): warms all water in an underwater area, becoming a hot spring: Increases our attractiveness to Delvers and reduces their hostility towards us.
[X] Crab Drab (cost: 1 Depth): Crabs gain the heritable Drab half-trait (May apply this to as many crabs as you have at the end of this turn, if none specified, will apply to all.)

• Drab - gain +1 vantage to stealth-based roll, lose 1 vantage to performance* based rolls. *including eg. public speaking (which crabs do a lot of )

[X] Crab Mermaids (Cordite) Expand (cost: 5 Depth): Our existing crabs have multiplied, and may occupy another tile. (Costs 1 extra for every room they enter on the way to the new room. Corridors count as a room).

Note: learning an ability does affect the modifiers of non-named characters


Vote by Plan! Or Snippy WILL snip you!
Also please show your work when planning Depth costs to help us spot errors and enact plans (Welcome back to school kids, we open at 8)

Trivia: GMs can, and will, get into ridiculous arguments over whether or not pocket sand and light are magical spells.